Education and Literacy Rates and Their Role in Poverty

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This letter is to request the federal government to take action on poverty within Canada. Poverty can be seen as an epidemic across our country that greatly affects the under-educated population, as well as significant other populations. Without sufficient amounts of education many individuals are not capable of earning an income that is high enough to subside their everyday expenses. Many individuals struggle just to afford the basic and proper necessities of life. Education and literacy rates within Canada are seemingly and adequately high, but too many Canadians also possess the lowest levels of numeracy and literacy. Not all individuals’ complete high school and obtain their diploma, adequate amounts drop out. For those individuals whom wish to pursue post-secondary education, many cannot afford it, and well paying jobs in Canada, on the most part, require higher levels of education, rather than just a high school diploma. Individuals who are already affected by poverty tend to not do so well in school. These are reasons why education and literacy rates play a great role in poverty.
Many individuals that attend high school tend to drop out. There are various reasons as to why they do so. These reasons vary from wrong decisions made by the individuals to the families and communities they come from (Ciuffetelli Parker, 2012). There is an 8 percent national high school drop out rate (Canadian Council on Social Development, 2007). All though the national drop out rate is significantly low, the percentage of individuals that drop out differ by province; there are higher drop out rates in the northern provinces and less in southern provinces. A significant amount of minimum wage jobs require at least a high school diploma, but if i...

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...r. These individuals will no doubt, tend to be more prone to suffer poor health conditions. Individuals with higher levels of education have better access to better health services and are better able to get their children ready for school in comparison to individuals with lower education (Second Report on the Health of Canadians, 1999). This is how education and literacy rates are related to the social determinants of health.
Bringing this together, both insufficient education and literacy play hand in hand with one another in burdening individuals with poverty. These individuals do not wish to suffer from poverty, but they have no choice. They do not possess sufficient education in order to have a well paying job. Without a good job, their health is at jeopardy of being badly impacted. This is why education and literacy can heavily play a major role in poverty.

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